Answer: D.R.I.P.S. project is designed to reduce Water Footprint, Preserve Raw Materials, and add to Social Well-being.

One of the major difficulties with growing crops in arid environments is the scarcity of water. What water does naturally precipitate is often quickly evaporated before people or crops can make use of it. D.R.I.P.S. provides a way to collect that naturally precipitated water and transport it far enough underground to the roots of a plant that it will be below the evaporation level with minimal effort. As obtaining water in arid environments will continue to be a problem faced by those living there, D.R.I.P.S. would provide an on-going solution to an on-going problem.

Water is an important and useful raw material. By making the best use of the water naturally found in the environment, an individual would not have to transport and use as much water, reducing that individual’s water footprint.

Currently, there has not been an opportunity to calculate and record any quantitative data.

Background Research: IRD—”To halt land degradation in sub-Saharan Africa” article, posted on January of 2003 by the Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD).

Web Sites

Berkeley Institute of Design
The Berkeley Institute of Design (BiD) is a research group that fosters a deeply interdisciplinary approach to design for the 21st century, spanning human-computer interaction, mechanical design, education, architecture and art practice.

IDE: International Development Enterprises
IDE views productive water as the entry point to creating income opportunities for these 900 million people. IDE identifies places where improved access to water can have a positive impact and offers affordable technologies.

The EDF Sustainable Design Challenge
The EDF Sustainable Design Challenge will focus on the materialization of day-to-day energy efficient solutions. The idea is to plant the seed of change and thus build a movement of reflection and new concrete solutions on sustainability matters.